KenGen will expand its second oldest geothermal power plant and add 140 megawatts (MW) to the national grid, bolstering electricity supply and cementing the firm’s dominance as the single biggest source of electricity.
Disclosures show that the company will expand its Olkaria II plant at a cost of $942,667 (Sh141.4 million).
The project, which is expected to take two years to complete, will bring the country’s installed capacity for geothermal to 1,128 MW, significantly boosting the security of supply of electricity in the country.
KenGen’s move is critical given the growing concerns by the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum and Kenya Power over the country’s waning power generation.
“The Olkaria II extension project aims to contribute an additional 140MW to the national grid, supporting sustainable energy development and reducing reliance on fossil fuels,” KenGen said in the project’s environmental impact report.
The plant is the second oldest in the country, having been commissioned in 2003 after Olkaria I, which began operations in 1985.
“Studies estimate that there is still considerable geothermal potential in Olkaria hence KenGen plans to install additional generation capacity.”
KenGen’s installed capacity for geothermal energy currently stands at 799MW, representing 84.7 percent of the country’s installed capacity of geothermal energy of 943.7MW.
Research into the geothermal potential of the Rift Valley has revealed reserves of 10,000 MW, lifting the lid on the vast production that KenGen is targeting.
This is the second such move by KenGen, which is already midway in rehabilitating its oldest geothermal plant, Olkaria I, which will increase the plant’s capacity to 63MW from the current 45MW.
Kenya is currently in the midst of a freeze on new power purchase agreements between Kenya Power and electricity producers, a moratorium that has made KenGen’s plans to expand the generating capacity of its plants timely.
Kenya is currently facing a surge in electricity demand which has significantly cut the reserve margin— the amount of extra electricity generation capacity that is available to meet demand.
Kenya recorded a new peak demand—the time when electricity demand is highest— of 2,239 megawatts on August 21 this year, with Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi saying that this led to a forced load shedding of six megawatts.
The reserve margin was nine megawatts against a system requirement of 310MW. A thinning electricity reserve significantly exposes the economy to the possibility of increased blackouts when demand surges.
Other plants whose generation capacity KenGen plans to increase are Olkaria IV & IAU to add 40MW and Olkaria VII to increase production by 80.3MW.
Upgrading the plants will significantly shore up the share of clean energy in the national grid and cut the need for expensive and dirty thermal plants.
Official data shows that 83 percent of the electricity generated locally and fed to the national grid was from clean sources, with geothermal accounting for the biggest share at 41.7 percent.
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